Two village bus services have been axed as the bus company claims the services were no longer economically viable.

Buses linking Didcot with Long Wittenham, Clifton Hampden, the Culham Science Centre and Bernsfield have been cut this week.

These cuts are because of poor passenger numbers and a shortage of 80 drivers.

Services 95 and 95B run by Thames Travel are be discontinued.

In January, Thames Travel confirmed the launch of a 'raft of new services' to help drive the region's recovery and 'continue to improve congestion and air quality'.

The 95 and 95B services were launched in September 2020 with the help of money from the science centre. The service also offered peak time connections from Didcot town centre and the Ladygrove estate.

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They operated under contract to the county council using funds from the Culham Science Centre, but both Culham and the county council agreed to terminate the service and the services ran for the last time on Friday November 19.

A new service however is planned for January with the help of money from the Ladygrove expansion near Didcot.

The county council’s senior transport planner Dave Harrison said it had been decided reluctantly to withdraw the Thames Travel service on commercial grounds and release the company from its contract.

He said: "The current situation has necessitated the early demise of the Thames Travel services. Funding from the developments north of Didcot (the Ladygrove expansion) will be used to support a new service starting in January. A tender process is underway”.

The Mondays only service run by Going Forward Buses, service D1, will be unaffected by the changes to the Thames Travel services and will continue as normal.

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A Thames Travel spokesman said: “The 95 and 95B services have been withdrawn from 21st November 2021, as part of a wider service review. Unfortunately, these services were very lightly used and were no longer economically viable to operate. We apologise for the inconvenience and advise passengers from Didcot travelling to Culham Science Centre to catch X2 or 33 services to Abingdon, where they will be able to catch the 45 service.

"Customers for Berinsfield should catch the 33 service to Wallingford, where they will be able to catch services X39 and X40. Our review sought ways to better match supply and demand and improve reliability as we adapt to the new normal of reduced passenger numbers, with many people continuing to work from home. We have adjusted routes and timetables for several services and recommend passengers check our website for revised timetables.”

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